@ESLJ
The only way to withdraw excess from older years is to withdraw it from the account NOT for medical reasons, and pay income tax plus a 20% penalty. Supposing you had $2000 of medical expenses and $3000 of excess contributions. You would withdraw $5000, report the expenses, and pay tax and penalty on the excess withdrawal.
This rarely makes sense, since the penalty for leaving the money in the account is 6% per year while the tax plus penalty could be 44%. Maybe if you are young and the excess is small and you want to clear the mistake so it doesn’t hang over your head.
The other way to clear the penalty is to spend the account down to zero for medical expenses, since the penalty is 6% of the excess or 6% of the account balance, whichever is less.
If you stopped making contributions and spent the account for medical expenses, that would clear the excess then you could start making new contributions in the future. I don’t know which would be best for your situation. It would depend on your age, how much you have saved so far, and your expected future medical needs.
